1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of billing vehicle parking by means of pay meters. More specifically, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a method of billing a parking fee to the account number of a cash card, pay card or credit card.
2. Description of the Related Art
In cities, towns and other municipalities, there will be one or more vehicle parking companies that have parking pay meters, distributed through the city or town in a number of different places, where streets, roads and large parking areas are the most common places.
In recent times, it has become possible to pay parking fees with different types of cash cards, credit cards, pay cards, etc. in addition to coin payment. When a cash card is used, the person parking a vehicle will draw his/her cash card through a card reader provided on the pay meter.
The invention relates to that type of payment system in which the person parking a vehicle draws his/her cash card or corresponding card through a card reader in the pay meter, whereupon the meter stores the card account number and the time at which the card was read.
According to one known system, the pay meter issues a parking ticket, which is placed inwardly of the windshield so as to be easily seen. When collecting the vehicle, the person concerned returns to the pay meter and draws his/her card through the card reader. The pay meter then again stores the card number and compares the vehicle collection time with the earlier time at which the card was first drawn through the card reader. The pay meter then calculates the parking fee to be billed and stores this fee together with the number of the card to be billed, and issues a receipt.
One problem with this system is that when collecting the vehicle, it is necessary to return to the same pay meter as that in which the card was read on the parking occasion, in order for the card to be read again on the vehicle collecting occasion. Another problem with this system is that certain parking areas include a large number of pay meters and occasionally drivers forget which pay meter they have used when parking the vehicle. A further problem is that people who park a vehicle several times in a number of different parking places in succession within a limited time period are forced to find the correct pay meter twice on each separate occasion.
It is therefore highly desirable to be able to use any pay meter whatsoever when parking a vehicle and then use any pay meter whatsoever when collecting the vehicle. The only requirement would be that the two pay meters used belong to one and the same vehicle parking company. It would then be possible to commence a series of parking occasions at one place in the city or town and draw the pay card through the card reader of one pay meter and to terminate the series of parking occasions at another place in the city or town, by drawing the pay card through the reader of another meter.
A solution to this problem is disclosed in Swedish Patent 501 845, according to which each pay meter is free-standing and thus not connected to other meters or to a central computer.
This prior patent publication relates to a method of cash card billing with the aid of vehicle parking pay meters, there being provided a pay meter system that includes a plurality of meters each of which constitutes an independent operative unit. Each of the meters includes a card reader. A person parking a vehicle finds a pay meter and draws his/her card through the card reader, therewith entering information relating to at least the cash card account number. The pay meters are constructed to issue a parking ticket at the commencement of the parking period, subsequent to having read the cash card.
The invention according to this earlier patent is characterized in that when the cash card is read by a first pay meter BAl in conjunction with the commencement of said parking period, the meter is caused to store in its memory BA1 MEM as a first transaction T1, the account number KN, and the time at which the card was read, i.e. the parking commencement time IT, together with a unique transaction number TN. The meter BA1 is caused to issue a parking ticket which displays said transaction number TN in a machine readable form.
When, terminating the parking period, the parking ticket is caused to be read by a second pay meter BA2, which may be any chosen pay meter in the system, including the first pay meter, wherewith the second pay meter BA2 will store the transaction number TN read from the parking ticket together with the time at which the ticket was read, i.e. the parking termination time UT, in a memory BA2 MEM belonging to said second pay meter as a second transaction T2.
The memories of respective first and second pay meters are emptied at certain times, and their contents transferred to the memory of a central computer.
The central computer brings together the respective transactions T1 and T2 recorded in the first and second pay meters BA1 and BA2, with the aid of the transaction numbers TN, and therewith charges the cash card account number KN with a parking cost calculated on the vehicle parking time IT and the parking termination time UT.
One problem with a system of this kind is that a parking ticket that contains machine readable information must be produced in the pay meter, and that each pay meter must have a functional ticket reading reader. Consequently, it is necessary to service the pay meters at relatively short intervals, in order to ensure that this facility is functional. It is also necessary to re-fill the pay meters with parking ticket material.
The handling of parking tickets is also problematic in some respects. If a parking ticket is lost, it is necessary to report the loss in order to be able to terminate parking of the vehicle.
The present invention solves these problems.